Matthew Calderbank

Huge fires that ravaged Lancashire's moorland this summer could potentially lead to future asthma, lung cancer and infant mortality, according to experts.

The devastating blaze at Winter Hill, near Chorley was battled by Lancashire firefighters and soldiers from across the UK for weeks in June and July this year.

Firefighters tackling a wildfire on Winter Hill near Bolton. The huge fires that ravaged moorland near Greater Manchester this summer likely had a "shocking" impact on air quality, according to new analysis.

Experts have now said that "extremely high" levels of "particulate matter" were recorded during the period of the fires which had a "shocking" impact on air quality.

New research by an environmental think tank said that in the week following June 24, when the fires were at their peak, the legal limit for daily exposure to particulate matter (50ppm) was breached on five occasions in different sites across Greater Manchester.